£25m splash of cash to rejuvenate listed Victorian public baths

A £25million refurbishment of a historic West End swimming pool is finally under way in Soho.

Building work has begun at Soho's Marshall Street Baths - which have been closed for more than a decade - almost two years after Westminster council first announced plans to restore and reopen the original Sicilian marble-lined pool. Work is expected to be completed by 2010.

The project also includes the construction of a leisure centre, gym, sauna and exercise studios as well as 52 apartments, 15 of which will be part of an affordable housing scheme.

A private consortium is carrying out the work but the pool will remain in public ownership.

The Grade-II listed building, famous for its stunning barrelvaulted roof, was closed in 1997 for health and safety reasons after it fell into disrepair.

It first opened in 1932 but there have been public baths on the site since 1852.

It is the second major project to restore a crumbling historic pool site to begin this summer, after builders started work on Kentish Town Baths.

The three pools in that Grade II listed Victorian building were last refurbished in 1961 and will also reopen in 2010 at a cost of more than £25million.